


Suffer Well

by misura



Category: Tour of the Merrimack - R. M. Meluch
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Fake Canonical Character Death, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-24
Updated: 2011-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-28 01:18:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/302145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Next time, Augustus decided, he'd have to make it better. Worse for Farragut.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Suffer Well

**Author's Note:**

  * For [prettymanly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettymanly/gifts).



> this ficlet mostly draws on SaH and jumps from fake death to uh second fake death before taking a turn to the left on the road to Farragut getting married. also: Augustus is kind of a sick puppy? of the kind who'll bite your hand off, mind.

John Farragut had a remarkable vocabulary, once you got him to let go of all pretenses of civil behavior. (Farragut was U.S., after all. Any civilization he laid claim to was of necessity a pretense. Only Rome and Romans possessed true civilization.)

Had Augustus retained any memories of his mother, honor might have obliged him to come out of hiding and kick Farragut where it would really hurt. See if his implants were up to cracking some brass.

Augustus did not retain any memories of his mother. He did remember having picked apart every scrap of information about John Farragut to find the one thing that would hurt him, the one button to push that would make Farragut forget who he was.

TR Steele had been fun, yes, but Augustus was easily bored, and Steele had been easily baited. Hadn't made it any less fun, but Augustus liked a bit of a challenge, a bit of sport.

So far, he hadn't even been able to get Farragut to step on the playing field.

So far.

 

Farragut played his role to perfection. It helped, of course, that the man didn't know he was playing a role. The anger and the grief right below the surface - they were both real.

Augustus observed events from his new, less than comfortable quarters. Observed Farragut, mostly, when there was nothing more important to observe.

Got hard every time Farragut got that particular expression on his face that meant he was thinking of Augustus, and what he should have done differently.

 

(And it was just the should-have kind of guilt, this time, the kind people got when deep down inside, they knew there really wasn't anything they could have done. Farragut hadn't ordered Augustus out of his ship, or onto the Striker - had merely agreed to Augustus's request to be allowed to do so.)

(Next time, Augustus decided, he'd have to make it better. Worse for Farragut.)

(Next time, he'd give Farragut something to actually feel guilty about.)

 

If Farragut had taken longer to decide, Augustus probably would have fired. Sexual frustration was not something he particularly enjoyed, and while he imagined Farragut wasn't having an easy time giving the order to shoot down Augustus's Striker, that wasn't nearly good enough.

Augustus didn't want Farragut having a difficult time choosing. He wanted Farragut _broken_ \- mentally and emotionally, by preference, but physically would do, in a pinch.

He still remembered what it had felt like to crush Farragut's larynx. To literally hold the other man's life in his hands. A certain amount of pleasure to it, yes. Still, it was only meat, in the end.

Like Augustus's own body.

Meat screaming.

 

Observing Farragut from beyond the grave that second time wasn't as easy as it had been the first time. He'd had Jose Maria to help him out then, and the _Merrimack_ 's own systems.

Without his Striker, Augustus had no longer any way to access _Merrimack_ 's systems.

Then again, without his implants, Augustus had gained an easy way to blend in with any crowd of reasonably tall people. Romans, by preference.

Not much of a problem on Palatine, fortunately.

Unfortunately, Farragut wasn't on Palatine.

 

Eventually, a human being ran out of grief. Augustus had banked on Farragut being unable to retrieve either his body or the Striker; Rome wanted both, and Rome usually got what it wanted.

Farragut hadn't had a body to bury. Hadn't gotten in some sort of farewell message, however one-sided.

Did remember Corindahlor, or was reminded of it, possibly. He'd watched that recording often enough, for no good reason Augustus could determine.

Touched the name the first time, and wiped out two Hives.

Touched the name the second time, and got told off.

Showed he hadn't learned a thing when he touched the name a third time.

 

"You're still an idiot," Augustus said.

Surprisingly, unexpectedly, he was not wearing Farragut two seconds after appearing. Possibly, Farragut had not recognized him or, less likely, suspected some sort of trap.

"Cyprian Flavius Cassius, I presume?" Farragut looked like he was unsure whether or not believe his own eyes. Jose Maria said nothing, stepped sideways. Discretely withdrawing himself from this conversation.

"Learn to read," snapped Augustus.

One heartbeat later, he _was_ wearing Farragut. No point in telling the man to let go - he never listened. "Augustus, then."

Possibly, his tone had given it away. "Learn to _listen_."

Farragut laughed and thumped his back. Not a hint of guilt or grief left.

"I'll go back with you to the _Merrimack_ ," said Augustus. Not a question; Farragut would take him, and be glad of it.

"You're not a patterner any more," said Farragut. An observation, or possibly a lucky guess. No implants visible did not equal no implants present.

"I'm still dying," Augustus informed him.

"Natural state of living," Farragut assured him. Magnificently missing the point Augustus had been trying to make, which was that removing the implants hadn't done anything to reverse the process that made patterners as short-lived as they were. As Augustus had been supposed to be.

One of Farragut's arms remained slung over Augustus's shoulder. Reminded him they were almost of the same height, now. "Just don't fake it again," said Farragut. "Getting old, that."

Augustus supposed it was. Tricky, though, to come up with something else.

Good thing he liked a challenge.

"I'll find some other way to make you suffer."

"Sure you will," said Farragut good-naturedly.


End file.
